Climate tech start-up Nabat is using AI and autonomous robotics to conserve natural ecosystems, beginning with mangroves and expanding to other habitats.

Mangroves are often referred to as nature’s carbon storehouse. These salt-tolerant trees and shrubs grow in lattice formations in shallow and brackish ocean water.

According to the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, mangroves remove and store about 10 billion tons of carbon as biomass, more than most other ecosystems on Earth, including rainforests.

They can be found in tropical and subtropical climates throughout the world, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In a bid to restore these vital biomes within its borders, the UAE has committed to planting 100 million more mangrove trees by 2030 as part of its national mangrove restoration programme.

To help it to do this, the commercialisation arm of the UAE’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) – VentureOne – is working with Nabat to bring its...